Depressive Symptoms, Acute Alcohol Intoxication, and Risk Rationale Effects on Men’s Condom Use Resistance

This study examined the role of depressive symptoms, acute intoxication, and risk rationale in men's use of condom use resistance (CUR) tactics in an experimental study. Participants included 313 heterosexual male, nonproblem drinkers, ages 21 to 30. Participants were randomized to one of four beverage conditions: no alcohol, placebo, low (.04%) alcohol dose, or high (.08%) alcohol dose. They read an eroticized scenario depicting a consensual sexual encounter with a female partner who requested a condom to prevent either pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (risk rationale) and then indicated their intentions to use 10 different CUR tactics. Hypotheses related to the pharmacological, dosage, and expectancy effects of alcohol were tested in a generalized linear model. In intoxicated (.04% and .08%) men who were given a pregnancy risk rationale, depressive symptoms were associated with stronger intentions to use CUR tactics than in sober (control and placebo) men. Men who received a high alcohol dose (.08%) and who were given a pregnancy risk rationale reported higher intentions to use CUR tactics than those who received a lower alcohol dose (.04%). Findings suggest that the pharmacological effects of alcohol on men's likelihood to resist condoms vary by the saliency of the risk rationale and mood-related variables.